The Problem of the Problem of Environmental History: A Re-Reading of the Field

Abstract

This essay argues that environmental history has not engaged as fully with social and political theory as it might, and that once it does, environmental historians will find that their concerns are, potentially, much closer to the mainstream of thought in the social sciences and humanities than they might have expected. In fact, environmental history has the promise to be central to the most influential social thought in the academy and among policy makers. The field also needs to consider the roles of knowledge and science, or “knowledge regimes,”• in translating scientific “facts” into politically realizable decisions.